When you have a hardcore foodie opening up his own restaurant to the discerning patrons of Chennai, he has to make sure that the taste is just right. People are willing to experiment with new interpretations of traditional food, but the taste factor has to reign supreme as mediocrity will not be tolerated. It is with this intention that Muddasar Malick, has thrown open the doors of Hundreds Bistro to serve tradional food with a twist. But does the restaurant live up to its hype? We find out.
The interiors of the restaurant are very modern and one good thing here is that there is a lot of greenery inside in form of plants. There is a private dining room and a small recessed area looking out onto the main road. The décor is grand without being flashy, something we always like. Getting back to what we are here for, we kickstart this session by ordering a kala khatta nada, basically black currant juice with crushed ice. It was humid outside, and the crushed ice really made us feel cool. We started with a lasooni jhinga, prawns cooked with garlic, smoked with charcoal. A terrific concept, there was a smoky edge to the prawns and their accompanying vegetables. The prawns were cooked well and if you like garlic, you will love the way the various flavours intermingled for a smoky dance on your palate. Next came the Muhammara macchi tikka, a fish kebab with a delicately made sauce comprising walnuts, red bell peppers and pomegranate molasses. The flavouring was quite complex and we just loved the subtlety of the walnuts as they played with the bursting flavours of the pomegranates.
Next up, one of our personal favourites, the mutton burrah. This succulent mutton dish had meat falling off the bone, and the right bite to it. Neither too hard or soft, the spice levels were appropriate and the vinegar dipped onion rings gave a nice crunch to the dish. If you are a meat lover, go for this one definitely. The Keema kulcha that followed was also very nice, though we did feel that the kulcha was a little over baked, could have been a little less done. The Lucknowi paneer pav was nice too, as long as you are a vegetarian. What came next was an absolute stunner – the seekh kebab. Again, rightly spiced, this one is served with butter containing bone marrow, an absolute delight to be drizzled over the seekh kebab. The mutton and the marrow butter makes your taste buds explode in a way that only good meat can bring out…even the thought of it makes us salivate! Dahi kebab tacos with almonds are good for vegetarians.
Time for dessert and we absolutely loved the Ras malai tres leches. It had that lovely velvety taste of the sweet with some icing on top and liberally doused with crushed pistachio – this was one yummy dessert on a bed of rabri with some rose petals – talk about the exotic. There was also a chocolate triple cheesecake, quite nice in itself and a kulfi sampler that was passable. All in all, we had a wonderful meal experience at Hundreds Bistro and would highly recommend it to anybody looking for an Indian meal with a twist.
Price: INR 1,500++ for two
Open all days, 11am to 11pm